A Crieff grandad who lost a son to brain cancer has saved three lives this Christmas by donating his kidney to a stranger.
Robert Stevenson, 69, lost his son Colin to brain cancer two years ago.
Colin, who was just 36, had been given treatment that extended his life and Robert was so grateful for the extra time with Colin that he decided to find a way to transform someone else’s life.
He decided to donate a kidney to a stranger, a process known as altruistic donation.
But his kidney did not just help its recipient it resulted in three people benefiting from transplants.
“My son had a form of brain cancer that was inoperable. He was diagnosed in the August and given two months to live but his treatment gave him another eight months,” said Robert.
“I knew I couldn’t do anything for Colin but maybe I could do something for someone else.
“So I went to my doctor and said what is the possibility of being a kidney donor and he put me in touch with transplant co-ordinator Irene Russell.”
That decision was the start of a two-year process that led to him donating a kidney two months before his 69th birthday.
“What’s amazing was they said we know you want to give a kidney but let’s take a look at you first,” he said.
“I spent 14 months getting lots of tests done and two psychiatric tests to make sure I hadn’t gone mad.
“Then after all that, in August I donated my kidney.”
Robert said that the donation has had minimal impact on his own health.
“I was told that it would increase my blood pressure but it’s low anyway so that hasn’t been a problem and that my remaining kidney would get a wee bit bigger, which is probably happening right now, but my life has gone completely back to normal,” he said.
He said the knowledge that his kidney has helped someone else has been a “great comfort” to him since losing Colin.
“What they did tell me was that for the recipient the change is immediate. It’s not something that takes time, as soon as the kidney is transplanted it starts to work,” he said.
“Knowing that is something that money can’t buy.”
Despite his amazing generosity, Robert will never know any of the three people whose lives have been transformed by his kidney.
Robert, who is a keen cyclist, said he was able to donate a kidney because of his own healthy lifestyle.
He regularly goes swimming with Colin’s four-year-old son Dylan and has three other grandchildren Amy, Cameron and Ben from his other son Ian.
“I’ll be 70 next October and I donated when I was 68,” he said.
“I thought I would be too old to donate but they said age was no issue,” he added.
NHS Tayside transplant co-ordinator Irene Russell said Robert’s donation had triggered a chain that helped three people.
She said: “He donated to someone who had a donor but wasn’t a match so their donor gave a kidney to another recipient and they did the same.
“In the end he helped three people. It’s just fantastic to be able to give that gift of life.”